V/M did creative lifts last season and D/W's no hands lift is merely a variation of V/M's...something V/M started

Not to be rude, but it seems that every time there is a complimentary post made on this thread about D/W, you seem to pop up with a 'response post' specifically meant to either downplay their success or explicitly criticize them as being inferior, particularly to V/M.

Seems excessive to me, especially when some criticisms appear to employ 'selective memory' about what teams other than V/M have done. D/W also had creative lifts last season, particularly their combination and curve lifts (something expert commentators regularly commented on). In fact, one of the hallmarks of both teams' success since they joined the senior ranks has been the quality of their lifts (especially their quick transitions) compared to older teams that did not grow up in the new system. That mutual growth and success should not be a surprise considering the fact that they train together and push each other.

I just don't get why you feel the need to deny improvements made by teams you don't support solely to boost the one you do.

This year, D&W (and indeed all the dancers) have had to focus heavily on CD's because both the Golden Waltz and the Tango Romantica are HARD HARD dances. Consequently, we are seeing a lot of programs here at the beginning of the season that are not yet soup.

Their OD is finished (although they need to work on their edges in the step sequences to get level 4). However, in one interview I read, they feel they need significant changes in the last part of POTO. So I'm not going to condemn this program until it's in its final form. Certainly D&W really improved Eleanor Rigby since it's first not very successful showing at Skate America until Worlds, and I expect POTO to follow a similar progression. Of course I wish it was great out of the gate like Samson & Delilah, but none of the skaters has 2 great programs every year.

And this year, there's even more likelihood of some unfinished stuff at the beginning of the year, due to the hard CD's.

As bad as Crone/Poirier's costumes are (and they are. Her FD costume looks like she killed an ostrich and wore it), I maintain that the worst costume of the year belongs to the junior pair of Ilynik/Katsalpov (butchering the spelling here).

V/M's costumes in the free are largely white, not black. I have to admit I love the elegance of both costumes, though a splash of red would really help Virtue's costume, I think

As for the lifts, my big thing against D/W's combination lift this season is that it doesn't seem so much about hitting these great positions as it is moving in between them. It might not be fair to comment on it this early in the season, but it looked so smooth that I wouldn't be surprised if it was the final version. Compare to say C/L's combo lift (also level four for both), and it just seems a lot busier, less pleasing to thine eye.